Advice for Patreon?

[FritzC]

@Minijulietty
Hmm, I'm also a bit curious about Ko-fi. I have one and I just started trying to make it nice and engage more on there. My limited experience w it is that its good because you can sell things on there, like prints or PDFs of your comics, and you can offer commissions on there too, which I like! If you have Ko-fi gold (which costs 6$ a month of 4$ a month) you can also post exclusive content for supporters only, but I don't think you can set tiers like on Patreon.

A key difference is, though, that you don't commit to monthly payments on Ko-fi (although you can, if you have Ko-fi gold) which is easier for many people than committing to monthly payments on patreon.

[thedude3445]

Obviously comics are different from web serials, but in my research on web fiction Patreons, advance chapter releases are pretty much the only thing that generates a ton of money. People use Patreon as a subscription service more than as donations, in that case. If your comic has a serialized plot, you might be able to get a few people that way.

If you use Discord, giving special Discord rewards is a huge bonus too! Some people really like to just get a fancy color on a Discord server to show themselves off.

Another piece of advice I've received is to have bonuses that are small but can be released every so often to make sure people keep subscribing. Bonus stories, lore, etc. Stuff that isn't going to appear elsewhere, at least not for a long time. You can also sell those bonuses individually on Gumroad or itch.io for a slightly higher price, and (theoretically) get some revenue from people who want to support you without subscribing.

Also, Do a $2 tier for the minimum, as others have said.

Most of all, though, a "consistent theme" is probably the best bet. Get a "brand" and stick with that, even though I'm not quite sure of it myself. This is why my Patreon's only at $35ish a month while some of my friends have $1000+ a month.

[DelythThomasArt]

I've been using Patron for a few years now and things often change and move about as you grow and change as a creator. More so for me as I've moved from physical goods to digital rewards and comics.

A good base tip tier of roughly $2-3 is a good start where you can just put up higher res bits / wips and scribbles (you can also include Discord tiers reflecting pledge level whether you have a private or public server, as fostering a good community is good both for support and for keeping you motivated.)

$5 and up you can use for early pages in your comic, special behind the scenes content or rewards like colouring pages. (I take part in smaugust each year which then gives me 28-30 dragons I can use for the colouring reward. Its handy to think smartly on generating rewards that wont add extra pressure to you if you are busy)

$10 and up could be things like nsfw rewards, reward art (think monthly commissions varying by the price point), videos and tutorials.

And well beyond that could be glamour tiers in the fact some folks just like to flex they can donate the most, this should be kept to just a single slot and perhaps offers a once a year bundle of some sort (personally my highest tier is for physical water colour paintings)

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Patreon will take a cut with their fees and now currency handling since the currency options came in. Despite changing to £ being I'm uk based it does mean I loose some money due to conversion costs for pledgers not using £ but at the same time PayPal used to take a bit when doing the conversion prior so look into those fees and decide what is worth it for you.

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Best tip is start small, just go with the base tipping tier til you feel more confident to build up on it as your audience and pledgers naturally grow over time. It's easy to offer too much too soon and get overwhelmed managing it all. That was my mistake when I first started my patreon.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

I see a lot of people saying to make your minimum tier $2-3 and this seems like sound advice. Patreon takes a percentage of your earnings. If someone pledges $1 you get 64 cents. But if they pledge $2 you get $1.64 which is more than double. That adds up pretty quickly when you're talking about more than doubling your earnings. Even if it is for a small amount of money.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

Thanks @Golden_Acorn for this thread.
Sorry to butt in, I have few questions too cos' i'm also into this:

I'm have a Patreon account (Lite) and i see no rush to upgrade to Pro as i was hoping to draw a number people into it before getting to next phase. Also I don't want to provide much exclusive content/services in my hands at the moment.

Should i upgrade right away? Does having NO TIERS really drives people away? Is Patreon Lite version pointless-- for catering like-minded creators who may support others, and not for those who wants exclusives?

Thanks.

I just want to bump @allenT 's question about whether or not Patreon Lite (which has no tiers) is worth it or not because it hasn't really been answered yet.

[GabiWolf]

I have no experience with Patreon lite. Patreon only charges you if you get money in, so if it's a concern of having to pay 'pro' you only pay if you get money. If you have a pledge they directly take their fee out of that pledge.

If you are wanting a tip jar where you only occasionally post images, I think you're better off to using Ko-Fi. It won't be a monthly donation, it's basicly a tip Jar where people occasionally 'buy you a coffee'.
I think people expect more structure from a Patreon. I personally do. As a reader I would want tiers. I want to know what exactly I am paying for and when I can expect to get it, but that's just me. If I 'tip' a creator it's gong to be through Ko-fi or by giving ink, not Patreon.

[dannygorny]

I'm really interested in this discussion. I've set up a patreon and a ko-fi, and I'm new enough that I go back and forth on which to promote.

If anyone has time to scope out my pages, I'd love some feedback!

[GabiWolf]

Promote both! They function differently, so go ahead and prompt them both. Ko-fi is a one time tip location, or "occasional" tip location. Patreon is a monthly commitment. some people aren't comfortable with a monthly fee, and other's are. So there is no shame in promoting both, for however someone wants to support you.

I know that ko-fi now has a Patreon like set up, but Ko-fi will charge you a flat monthly fee whether or not you have pledges. I personally have a basic zero cost Ko-Fi for tipping and commissions, and a basic Patreon for providing monthly extras and early pages. I promote both, because I expect different things form them.

[Pommie]

To be honest, I don't really expect much from my patreon. But since I put so much hard work into making a 3 page buffer, i set my patreon version of my comic for a 5$ tier and I'm surprisingly getting 20$ a month

[allenT]

Thank you for your input. well Ko-Fi is fine but i prefer to drive people to Patreon because it feels more structual and "offical", feels more a part of my plan. About upgrading...maybe I will hang around till next year and see how it goes.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

I believe the difference between Lite and Pro is only 3% which gives you quite a bit of extra functionality.

[allenT]

Excuse me for i'm going to rest for the day. you people carry on

[ryoko]

I've got two tier on Patreon. $1 gets early access/uncensored (which is about 2 weeks ahead of Tapas/Webtoons and is about 8-10 pages) and a $3 tier which has early access as well as extra side stories/monthly illustrations.

The best advice I can give is don't have more tiers that you can comfortably handle along side making your own comic and work (if you have an additional job as well as your art)

I waited until I had enough engagement on Tapas/Webtoons as well as some extra content ready to go before starting up my Patreon at the end of 2017. I think I was around 250 subs on Tapas and 600 on Webtoons. Right now I hold steady between 25-29 Patrons each month. I'd say about 75% of those have been long term ones, too, and almost all of them are at the $3 tier. With everyone's financial situation being a bit of a challenge right now, having a lower priced tier is always a good idea. I've found that most people who start at the $1 level will move to the $3 in a month or two.

I'd also advise you to set Patreon to collect fees from new people right away. A lot of artists had a problem a few years back with people pledging to tiers, then never actually paying on the first of the month. Now, if someone joins, they must pay the monthly fee upfront before getting access to content.

As a reader, the creators that I'm a Patron of offer early access/uncensored pages at a $1 or $2 level, and that's the tiers that I am financially able to support.

[Dysis]

You must be unaware of inksgiving. There are many who received monetary support.

If you'd like to know more, it's post inksgiving and I still received ink. This is coming from a writer who hasn't even been on the forums for 2 months.

I have personally given ink to many creators. And many here organize events and donate 15,000 inks for no reason whatsoever.

So yeah. People do spend money. I'm not sure about the root cause behind your pessimism but it doesn't do any harm to look around yourself a little more. Bottom line is, good things are happening.

...

Oh well. I just went through your previous comments and now I get where the frustration comes from. You gave your best but aren't receiving the fruits of it yet. I apologize because I came off as harsh.

In my opinion though, your comic is actually doing good. Not even trying to pity post here. There are sixty average readers per chapter and 28 in the latest. It means a population of 28, equivalent to that of a full classroom, is actually sticking through with your very first work.

In all my experience so far, it takes a full year for the top free novels in Tapas to become the top. One novel started off at 2018-19 with a niche story and has currently accumulated so many likes that it's constantly at the front of the popular list. If that's what success is for you, then know that it took nearly 2 years. Now, your comic was published on June and it already has 400 something likes. That, coming from an outsider's perspective, is commendable!

What I honestly think is that you're becoming restless because of comparing your work with others. It's really too soon, too soon to start the comparison! They are two-three years ahead of you in the game. And the more you compare, the more you'll want and the less satisfied you'll get when life doesn't give you as much. It has actually begun to happen to you as I see it. You are unsatisfied despite the readership you have already achieved.

To me, a writer who would stare at the screen wide eyed to have received 400 likes, you are doing great. Ask other writers if you wish. You just want followers, right? Be it a writer or an artist, to a creator a follower is a follower. And in that regard, you have more followers than writers starting out at your level, on June 2020, specifically.

Coming from a third person's perspective, you're doing fine man. The kind of success you need requires patience, consistency and analysis. Those 28 people actually value your work. An entire room as big as a classroom values your work and sticks through it. See it that way.

...

I should be sleeping. And I went on an analysis spree for a stranger. Jeez, cheer up.

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

Quick question for comic creators. Do you have your full archive of publicly available (non patron exclusive) comics on Patreon. Even those you made before starting your Patreon page? Or are readers generally fine with coming to a platform like tapas to read stuff from before you began posting there?

[allenT]

I don't think i will want to post my comics on Patreon. It don't have the proper reading flow i want readers to have. It's just not a proper place to read long-term comic.
They just have to go to my Tapas page or my other site.

[WillowTree]

Oh! I forgot to mention as well, if you do want to send out like merch and stuff, Patreon has an option where they take care of all production, shipping and support! Here's a link to their merch page, but it could be an option if you were wanting to do physical rewards with less worry about it

Patreon

[BrambleberrySquirrel]

Thank you everyone who has given advice so far. I’ve gotten feedback from so many great people irl and online so far. This thread is by no means over, but I have a much better idea of what to do, what to plan for and what to be cautious about. I’m working extra hard on doing all I need to launch my Patreon on the 27th of this month. Here’s where things stand.

• I’m charging people up front when they become patrons
• I’ve done a lot of research on production and delivery costs for merch
• I’ve adjusted the lowest tiers to reflect how Patreon charges it’s customers
• I’ve combined and readjusted tier prices to be more generous to patrons while giving good options to upgrade your rewards for a very modest increase in pledge funds while still doing the math to keep things profitable.

Please offer any and all feedback:

T1: $3 - read ahead + shout out in every episode

T2 - $4 Add in WIPs and other behind the scenes creative process stuff

T3 - $5 Add patron exclusive Discord access

T4- $12 Add monthly sticker club

T5 - $12 Add monthly postcard instead of sticker

T6 - $20 Get a sticker and a postcard featuring original and exclusive illustrations every month plus T1-3 rewards. Also gets to offer suggestions and vote on future art for stickers and postcards.

T7 - $100, this is for the rare person who has money to burn or is extremely committed. They get all previous tiers plus extra care packages once every 6 months that include top tier exclusive merch including shirts hoodies, prints etc.

[SleepingPoppy]

Do you have your full archive of publicly available (non patron exclusive) comics on Patreon.

Nope. I think way back when I planned of make PDFs of each chapter available for download, but I never followed through. But I can see high quality PDFs being something readers would appreciate having. Otherwise it's probably easier to just direct people to Tapas or similar.

[allenT]

I also decided my chapter PDFs be exclusive to Patrons (only for higher tiers, when i decide to go 'Pro') I've already created chapter 1 PDF on standby.

I think i got my format into place:
I only make the PDFs HD resolution (1920px), not print size. I don't know how others do it but i placed my comic logo watermarks on the sides (outside the panels, small but noticeable, not intrusive), almost every pages. The text "Patreon Exclusive" are below all my watermarks. I only put my creator name on the first page. (splash page)

What do one thinks of adding watermarks in PDF? How do others do it?